Costa Rica is famous among experienced divers for voyages to uninhabited Cocos Island, three hundred miles offshore. If you're out for challenging, high-tension, big-animal dives among hammerheads, mantas, occasional whale sharks, and other awe-inspiring creatures of the Pacific deep, Cocos is one of the more reliable places on earth to find them, but it's not for the faint-of-heart, coral lovers, or those out-of-tune with their skills.... Follow the weather pattern when planning trips as the number of sharks is negatively impacted during El Niño years.... Water temperatures run 75 to 85 degrees year-round, and air temperatures are about the same. Visibility and water conditions, however, are unpredictable, with both visibility and wind down in the rainy season (roughly May through November).... Northwestern Costa Rica's land-based diving is a smaller-scale version of Cocos Island. There are plenty of sharks (although no massing hammerheads) and a big-ocean feeling with rigorous conditions and an awesome amount of fish life .... Bat Island offshore is the place to go, so insist on it before booking... .Beaches vary from not-so-great to decent, though nature side trips are definitely a double "yes".... Shopping is mainly in San Jose, which is also a pleasant city for overnighting. Though Spanish is the national language, English-only speakers can get by....

For full reviews of the following Costa Rican destinations, see:

Rich Coast Diving - Bat and Catalina Islands, Costa Rica, Undercurrent- October 1999

The Inzan Tiger,More Boats in Cocos, Undercurrent- May 1998

La Paloma, Southern Costa Rica, In Depth- April 1996

Bill Beards Diving Safaris/Sol Playa Hermosa, November 1997, Patrick Otto, Beaufort, NC. Diving here is always a challenge and adventure! Fluctuates a lot but the animal life is exciting and usually awesome. Noticeable reduction in white tip shark schools (I've encountered 15+ on Punta Gorda alone 2 years ago) but a huge increase in schooling jacks. Bill Beard's had their stuff together. Sol Playa Hermosa's food is good and the service at the restaurant on site is great. Did some exploratory diving and found three new sites! Catalina Island had 100+ viz and saw a nice manta at Bat Island. Water: 78-85 degrees. Clown shrimp and sea horses abound; false killer whales too! Some depth limitations, no time limitations. Did a three-tank day! (Ph: 800-799-0055 or 506-670-012, e-mail: diving@sol.racsa.co.cr, Web Site: http://www.diving-safaris.com or http://www.billbeard's.com)

Bill Beard's Diving Safaris/Costa Esmeralda, April 1998, Mark and Kendra Walden, Garland, TX. Bill Beards has new owners, Earl and Bobbie Joe Gibbs and Phil Cheney. All great and friendly people who are friendly and seem interested in providing good service. A few things need repair or replacement, especially the three dive boats. My only complaint: We phoned and e-mailed them to let them know when we were coming. They responded quickly but neglected to say that a group had the two larger boats tied up all week except one day, which meant only close local dives on a pontoon boat. So we could only do either The Bat Islands OR Catalina on that free day. They should advise people when they are that booked and limited so you can make other plans. . . . Diving was fun but none of those squadrons of mantas or schools of sharks this trip. Groups of 12-15 spotted eagle rays that came to play was the big stuff at Bats. Vis 40' locally and 20' at Bats. Water 83-85 F. . . . Costa Esmeralda is an all-inclusive resort set oceanside, in the hills 5 minutes from Bill Beards. The grounds are some of the prettiest in the area with rooms grouped approximately 8 per unit throughout the complex. The food was good, served in open air seating. Good walking shoes are a must for most of the resorts in the area. Beaches are marginal. . . . Costa Rica has many topside attractions. Rent a 4-wheel drive and do the tours on your own that will offset the rental cost. The people are friendly and speak little to no English the further you get from the resorts. The rainy season had just started so things were still fairly brown, so the mosquitoes were also just beginning to get out at night.

Bill Beard's/Sol Playa Hermosa, May 1998, Richard Thayer, Commerce Twp, MI. Wonderful operation. Knowledgeable, helpful staff. Took down, rinsed, set up our gear every day. Tried hard to help us find all we wanted to see. El Nino played havoc. 85 degree water was unheard of. All the big critters had gone. Vis: 15-30 ft. Diving was good with clouds of smaller fish. Plenty of macro opportunities. Beware of scorpion fish. They're plentiful and hard to spot initially. Hotel very good. Great outdoor luncheonette/Bar. Lots of restaurants along the beach. Try La Finisterra across the bay for delicious $10 filet mignon.

Bill Beards Diving Safaris, September 1998, Martin Raffauf, San Carlos, CA. Water 74-83, vis 10-80 feet. Under new ownership, but the service is still excellent. Staff knowledgeable. Setup gear and take it to the boats. Earl and Bobby Jo (new owners) have smooth operation, and make one feel as part of the family. They recommend restaurants and land-based diversions. Rainy season; rained every day, though usually only a few hours. Conditions change frequently, even during a dive. Inshore sites are calmer, but have worse vis. Offshore sites have better vis, but are open ocean type dives. Sharks, mantas, eagle rays, cow nose rays, turtles, dolphins, large school of Barracuda, many schools of large jacks, tropicals. More fish life than Carribean. Condovac Lacosta and Melia hotel are good. Pools and restaurants on site, also a small general store. Good restaurants nearby in Playa del Coco and Playa Panama. Good value. Roads full of potholes, trucks and buses. Air service now from San Jose to Liberia daily.

El Ocotal, May 1998, Coy Correll, Louisville, CO. Water 75-86, vis 20-75. Restrictions: 120 ft. Dive shop was accommodating for dive sites. Never in a rush; always maximized your time. Saw several pods of dolphins from boat. Large squadron of eagle rays. Large schools of fish - 500 in a school. Never handled our gear the whole week. Long drive from the capital to the resort on a heavily traveled road. Last day at rained and the bugs came out. Be prepared for mosquitos. Enough restaurants in town for a week of good eating; nice to have a car to get around; too far to walk to town. (Ph: 506-670-0321 or 506-670-0323, Fax: 506-670-0083,

e-mail: elocotal@sol.racsa.co.cr, Web Site: http://www.centralamerica.com/

cr/hotel/oct/dtv.htm)

El Ocotol, June 1998, Jim Tully, Littleton, CO. Water 83-86 F. Wetsuit recommended for protection due to surge. Vis: 12-25 ft. Allowed you to dive your own profile with few restrictions if you had a computer. Several women were clearly violating their computer (they shared one computer) which brought them a warning from one of the PADI instructors but no sign they heeded his warnings. Divemasters clearly wanted to please all clients and said nothing to them to my knowledge. Surge was tough and wore everyone out. No beginners on the boat. Saw: white tip sharks (8-10), manta, dolphins on surface, two turtles, several sea snakes but only at night. Coral was pretty much nonexistent, large schools of fish but not the numbers of pelagics I had anticipated. Locals claimed the unusually high water temp drove the larger fish to cooler water. . . . Service was outstanding; if we wanted to change the hours of departure to accommodate a longer trip they complied. As we got on the boat each day all our equipment had already been assembled and properly setup. Deck hands helped everyone get their gear together before going in the water. Best pre dive briefings I've heard. Bat Islands not for beginners. 5 foot seas; one of the group went in without telling the divemaster that was nearly disastrous since the divemaster told the captain to move the boat right after he went in. When we heard a thump from under the boat, we were afraid we might have seriously injured him as the prop encountered his tank and BC but his experience probably saved him. Remaining dives typically the same as the divemasters actively looked for sharks and other larger fish but the lack of pelagics was disappointing. Our request at the end of the trip was not to try any more deep dives since the pelagics were gone and the visibility was limited. They complied with several 50' dives that were a photographer's delight. . . . Costa Rica is a beautiful country and is probably not a dive destination alone without experiencing the rest of the country, especially the jungles and whitewater rafting.

El Ocotal, June 1998, Rob Cribb, HI. Great place, great experience. Service unmatched. Every day something really special underwater. Resort caters to divers. Vis: 40-80 ft, water: 80-82 degrees.

El Ocotal, July 1998, Joel & Bonnie Newman, Victoria, B.C. Rooms on a cliff with a spectacular view of Pacific. Steep walk from the dive shop. Staff friendly and helpful. Well-run dive operation with plenty of freedom for experienced divers or close supervision for less experienced. Lower visibility (40 ft. average) and deep first dives (80 to 100 ft) might bother beginners. Little coral and few sponges. Wear gloves for holding onto rocks in occasional surge or currents. Water 77-80 F. King and Cortez angelfish, Mexican hogfish, dense schools of spottail grunts, blue and gold snappers, jewel morays, Moorish idols, white-tip reef sharks. At Bat Islands, we dove with four massive bull sharks. During beach breaks between dives, we found a venomous yellow-bellied sea snake struggling to get back into the water, saw howler monkeys in the trees and photographed an anteater. Side trips to the rainforest from San Jose were worthwhile. We took an aerial tram through the canopy and a wet raft ride on class 3 rapids. Note: Bill Beard's dive operation would not guarantee a trip to the Bat Islands with fewer than six divers. El Ocotal promised to go with just the two of us (weather permitting).

Jinetes De Osa, January 1998, John and Gwen Kontnik, Lakewood, CO. On the southern Pacific coast, Osa Peninsula, Drake Bay. All diving is done at a Cano Island, 45 minutes away and part of the Costa Rica National Park system, so it's protected from fishing. Limited sites but those available are a thrill. White tip sharks (8-10 on some dives) and turtles (12 on one dive). Other fish life was great, big triggers, schools of barracuda, guineafowl puffers (a lot of golden phase), lots of king angles, jacks, snappers, grunts, cowrays (or mobias as the locals call them), a smaller manta look alike. On going to the dive site saw a pod of 100dolphin. Vis: 50-70 ft. Water: 80-83 degrees. Restrictions: depth/dive computer. . . . Facilities at Jinetes De Osa are nice and clean, not fancy but intimate. (Recently purchased by two young men from the States). Jinetes De Osa has their own dive operation with two good boats and all new rental equipment. . . . Musts: a walking tour of Cano Island: old Indian artifacts and some great plant life; rainforest hike a Corcovado National Park (a 20-25 minute boat ride). We saw monkeys, snakes, crocodile, coati-mundi, agouti, and some great birds and plant life. Waterfalls are wonderful. . . . Getting to the resort is part of the adventure. Fly into San Jose then take a 45 minute small plane ride to Palmar Sur, then a taxi to Sierpe and then a 45-60 minute boat ride to Drake Bay (no cars at Drake Bay). On the boat ride saw a crocodile and some wonderful birds. One of best vacation experiences we have had. Food was great; ask for peas and rice (a local dish).

Jinetes De Osa, June 1998, Andrea Nelson, Fort Lauderdale, FL. Brothers Greg and Brian Chavez from Denver are turning a small resort on the south Pacific coast of Costa Rica into a diver's destination. Greg manages the dive operation; Brian works on the property. Accommodates 16 guests in two lodges at the edge of a rainforest, overlooking a small bay. Rooms are small and Spartan and not all have private baths. The generator shuts down at 9 p.m. On nights without a breeze, the rooms were hot. Bring lightweight clothing and lots of bug spray. . . . >From San Jose we rode 40 minutes on a small plane, then a half hour in a taxi to a marina, where we were met by of the dive boats for an hour-and-a-half river trip to the resort. Food was good and varied: homemade bread, crepes, pancakes, French toast, scrambled eggs and fresh fruits at breakfast, a picnic lunch on Cano Island between dives, and dinners with chicken, fish or traditional Costa Rican fare. Beer and sodas available at the bar for a nominal sum. When I asked if I could purchase a late-afternoon snack, the kitchen responded with free fresh popcorn. . . . Calm and flat most days; strong currents in some spots and a healthy surge in others. Water in the low 80s-unusually warm for the Pacific coast due to El Niño. Six degrees higher than normal. Visibility 50-80 feet. Depth limits on every dive, and divers required to stay with a divemaster. Set own limit on bottom times. All diving off Cano Island, a nature preserve. White-tipped reef sharks on most dives. One dive with a giant manta. Green turtles at one site. Pod of false killer whales let some of us snorkel with them for a short time. . . . Volcanic terrain, though some sites with sea fans in white, purple and green. Abundant saber-toothed blennies, Moorish idols, king angels, dragon wrasse, butterfly fish. Guinea fowl puffers covered with polka dots are memorable, lots of big grouper, parrots, big-eyed jacks. Small, bright blue starfishes were a personal favorite. Newer divers in our group found some dives to be a challenge. . . . Back home, the no-see-um bites lasted for a week, but the memories are good for a lifetime.

Rich Coast Diving Company, Villa Casa Blanca, May 1998, James L. Waller, Sioux Falls, SD. "Diving the northwest coast of Costa Rica is like drawing to an inside straight. If visibility is decent and the big fish are present then it's great, but neither conditions were met during our trip. Made four local dives with vis from 10-30 ft, water: 83-85 degrees. (We expected mediocre visibility based upon reports in Undercurrent; we mentioned this to a dive shop employee who claimed Undercurrent trashed all dive operations, an assertion we found ludicrous). . . . One eagle ray, virtually no coral, but occasionally enormous schools of small jacks that allowed you to swim into their midst. Despite the assurances of a shop co-owner, during our two dives off Catalina Island the visibility was no better and we saw no manta rays, one white-tip reef shark and a school of six eagle rays. Rich Coast uses a nice trimaran for local dives, but the small fishing boat it rents for trips to Catalina or Bat Islands isn't as good, particularly in choppy water; we were delayed for an hour waiting for air tanks. We were told the four dive shops in the area had a total of five air compressors but only one of the two at El Ocotal was working, and that all the dive shops had to use that sole compressor. Despite having booked 3 dives at Catalina Island, we could only make two dives due to a lack of enough air tanks. Dive restriction: follow the divemaster in a group. Currents at the local dive sites were mild, but the currents off Catalina Island might trouble inexperienced divers. Rich Coast Diving offered a package with lodging at Villa Casa Blanca and charged $250 for round-trip transportation between San Jose and Playa Ocotal; Bill Beard's apparently charges more, though they use the same driver. Dense schools of small fish at local sites are interesting but hardly sufficient to attract experienced divers. . . . Villa Casa Blanca near Playa Ocotal; good breakfast buffet, but he only place to eat lunch or dinner is at El Ocotal Hotel, a fair uphill hike. We thought the dive shop would pick us up and return us to Casa Blanca, not so. $4 taxi to and from the dive shop or whenever we wanted to eat dinner other than at El Ocotal. . . . Black sand beaches at Playa Ocotal and Playa del Coco were unappealing. Playa Hermosa was better although we observed old syringes laying on the beach. . . . Flew to Costa Rica on Delta Airlines, which uses a new terminal a substantial distance from the main terminal. Our travel agent, Scuba Voyages, knew we were arriving on Delta, that information was evidently not passed along to Rich Coast; we wasted an hour at the airport making phone calls trying to find our driver who was waiting for us at the main terminal, unaware the separate Delta terminal even existed. New Delta terminal is Spartan and lacks currency exchange and other facilities present in the main terminal. There is a $17 per person departure tax. (Ph: 506-670-0176 or 506-391-4800, Fax: 506-670-0176, e-mail: scuba@divecostarica.com, Website: www.divecostarica.com)

Resort Divers/Blue Bay Village, June 1998, Russell Schroeder, Grand Prairie, TX. New charter service out of Dallas on Adventure tours to Liberia cut the price of this trip in half over last year (www.atusa.com). Hotel is a beautiful five star all-inclusive property that just added Disco, Showroom, SPA, and Eco-jogging trail. El Niño reduced the massive amounts of sea life seen last year, however two days of 100+ visibility was awesome. Normal vis 30-60 ft, water: 80-84 degrees. Resort Divers sets the standard of excellence in customer service. They ask you how you want to dive. Only 2 for a night dive? You can dive every night. Saw a lot more white tip sharks this time including night dives. May-Aug is still best for visibility. La Niña (cold water) in 1999 should make this incredible big creature diving. (Ph: 506-670-0421 or 506-670-0106, Fax: 506-670-0421, e-mail: beckers@sol.racsa.co.ce)